Public Citizen urges Bavarian Nordic to Lower Price of Mpox Vaccine following Global Health Emergency Declaration

August 23, 2024

Public Citizen urges Bavarian Nordic to Lower Price of Mpox Vaccine following Global Health Emergency Declaration

WASHINGTON D.C. - As mpox deaths rise in Africa, Public Citizen called on Bavarian Nordic CEO Paul Chaplin to lower the price of the biotech company's vaccine, Jynneos, which prevents smallpox and mpox in adults. The World Health organization declared mpox a global health emergency on Aug. 14.

The Africa Center for Disease Control has indicated Jynneos is running at $100 per dose, but due to a lack of transparency from Bavarian Nordic, the official price and justification for its pricing remain unknown. As the highly contagious virus spreads in multiple African countries, Public Citizen's Access to Medicines Program Director Peter Maybarduk penned a letter to Chaplin addressing Bavarian Nordic's insistence on remaining tight-lipped on Jynneos' current pricing and its refusal to lower its price as "unconscionable."

"Without changing [its] pricing and transparency practices, we fear that Bavarian Nordic may be exploiting the latest global health crisis, putting profits over people,"said Maybarduk.

Previous research by Public Citizenidentified multiple global manufacturers using similar manufacturing processes as Bavarian Nordic. The research found manufacturers in low and middle income countries were selling vaccines using similar processes for $4 or less per dose - a fraction of Bavarian Nordic's mpox vaccine price. During the 2022 to 2023 global outbreak of the virus, Public Citizen shared the same concern with Bavarian Nordicthat pricing was hindering access.